The Scotland senior squad for the 2010 Shinty / Hurling international double header with Ireland has been announced.

The Scots travel to Croke Park, Dublin to play Ireland on Saturday 30 October 2010. The return leg is at the Bught Park, Inverness, a fortnight later on Saturday 13 November 2010.

This was a difficult selection process for Head Coach Drew McNeil and his management team, with many good players available. “We have had to make some very tough decisions in selecting this year’s squad,” said McNeil. “We have spent a great deal of time looking into and selecting the type of players that are suited to the shinty / hurling game through three phases of selection.”

McNeil intends to use the time leading up to the first international to ensure that his players are fully prepared for the double header. “We had a disappointing result in Inverness last year and expect another tough game this time round, so we will have to make sure we are very well prepared and use our remaining three sessions wisely.”

There are 3 South players and 15 North players in the 18 man squad. This may be reflective of the fact that players from clubs such as Inveraray did not attend the training sessions. The pool is made up of 15 players from the Scottish Hydro Premier League and 3 players from Marine Harvest North Division 1. There are 10 changes from the 19 man squad which lost narrowly to Ireland in 2009.

There are also several versatile players included such as Roddy MacDonald from Kyles Athletic, and Fort William trio Duncan Rodger, John MacDonald and Gary Innes who can play in more than one position.

Glenurquhart’s Stuart MacKintosh is the only keeper in the squad and he comes in to replace the retired Scott McNeil and Jamie Gannon of Skye Camanachd who were in the squad last year.

Newtonmore duo Norman Campbell and Scott Campbell are included and Bute’s Ian MacDonald and Glenurquhart’s John Barr also keep their places in the squad.

There is a first call up for Lochaber buckshee back Neil MacDonald who has been in excellent form for the Spean Bridge side this season.

Lochcarron pair Alan MacKenzie and Alan MacKay drop out of the squad from 2009 as does Fort William’s Neil Robertson.

There are also big changes in midfield with Fort William’s Niall MacPhee the only constant from 2009. Andrew Corrigan of Glenurquhart and Kingussie’s Paul Gow come in as do Grant Irvine of Kyles Athletic and Fort William’s John MacDonald. Newtonmore’s Paul MacArthur and Glenurquhart’s Eddie Tembo drop out.

Marine Harvest North Division 1 duo Shaun Nicolson of Lochaber and Kinlochshiel’s Finlay MacRae retain their places in the squad. Two of shinty’s biggest names, Ronald Ross and last year’s captain Gary Innes, also remain as expected.

Bute’s Hector Whitelaw and Newtonmore’s David Cheyne drop out whilst Kilmallie’s John Stewart drops onto the stand-by list. He is joined there by Kingussie’s Lee Bain whose consistent performances this season have impressed McNeil. The stand by list also includes Kinlochshiel’s Keith MacRae and Kyles Athletic’s Andrew King.

The 18 man squad includes new 9 players from the 2009 international. Of the 9 new players, 4 players – Stuart MacKintosh, Neil MacDonald, Andrew Corrigan and John MacDonald - were on the stand by list last year whilst Duncan Rodger, Grant Irvine and Roddy MacDonald are promoted from last year’s U21 squad. Chris Bamber and Paul Gow are the other new men in the squad.